It's September, the winter months are closing in. We need a companion, a helping hand to offer comfort and terrible puns in times of cold and darkness. Step forward issue 244, adorned by an image of the fierce Norn warrior, Eir. She's a hero of a race of giants hailing from the frozen hills of Tyria, a land she knows inside out thanks to our huge twelve page guide to Guild Wars 2.

The cold front is advancing in the East, too. We've battled the deep cold of Russian winter in Company of Heroes 2 to bring you more details Relic's frozen follow-up. Rich spent this month battling the forces of darkness in Dark Souls and Tom tried his very best to survive the icy vacuum of space in FTL. Brrr. Don't worry, though. We've solved winter. All you have to do is set your PC up next to your fireplace and delve into the conquest and political intrigue of Europa Universalis 3, which comes FREE with this month's issue.

Issue 244 is in shops and online now. Our digital edition can also be purchased through Zinio and Apple Newsstand. You can also subscribe to get each issue early for less money. Hooray! Read on for the full details of what lies within the glossy cover of issue 244.

The cold has crept into our previews section this month. Chris Donlan braves the white wastes of Dead Space 3. Duncan Gear flexes his many limbs to bring us an early look at Incredipede and Chris dips into World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. We also take a look at Clockwork Empires, Raiderz and the scintillating immersive sim, Dishonored.

Then it's off to Tyria for an in-depth inside look at Guild Wars 2. We examine whether or not it could really re-craft the genre, and take a tour of its huge world, with recommendations and secrets from the people that built the game. While Chris immersed himself in a fantasy realm of warring cat men and apocalyptic dragons, Tim Stone plotted world domination from his kitchen, and then went out to have an early look at Paradox' strategy sequel, Europa Universalis 4.

Tom Francis, meanwhile, has been trying to avoid death. More so than usual. Part two of An Illusionist in Skyrim continues Tom's story of survival and running away, and Pressing Space tells another tale of more panicky survival in marvellous space sim, FTL. 'This is a disaster. It took 17 agonising seconds to charge the halberd, now it's back offline without even firing â?¦ I'm boned,' he says at one point. Does he survive? You'll have to read the issue to find out.

What, you want MORE? No problemo. Jon Blyth hacks into Uplink, frags fools in UT3 and revisits the Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena in They're Back. In Now Playing Rich dominates the galaxy in Endless Space, Chris goes mad in an angry way with Spec Ops: The Line, Kim Braves Slender, Tom submits his brain for testing in the White Laboratory and Graham goes on a date in Second Life. Does he survive? You'll have to read the issue to find out.